Improvement in railway-station indicator



N. PETERS, PHOTOfLlTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D` C,

N'UN-ITam STATES PATENT To all 'whomtmay concern:

l `Be it known that I, J ULIUs I. FFAU, of' Lansingburg, in the countyof Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedRailway-Station Indicator; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this speciicationl This inventionrelates to improvements in railway-station indicators; and it consistsin theapplioation between the rollers on which the canvas is Wound of atension-roller placed in front of the opening in the case, for theobservation of the names of stations, and the arrangement of the upperLand lower rollers to be forced against it by springs or other yieldingmechanism, whereby they will be moved by it, andthe canvas stretchedover the front the opening, `and maintained in a taut condition, whetherit be wound more on one roller than the other or not.

l The invention also consists in a ratchet-andpawl mechanism of peculiarconstruction, applied to each end of the said middle roller, for movingit in opposite directions as the cars are reversed at the ends oftheroutes, the said ratchet-and-pawl mechanism being so constructed thatafter each movement the pawl is raised out of contact with the wheel,leaving it free to be moved backward,`if required. l Figure 1 is atransverse sectional elevation of my improved station-indicator, showingthe `pawl mechanism when inthe normal position. Fig. 2 is a similarsection, showing the same at the end of a movement for rotating theshaft; and Fig. 3 is a front elevation, partly sectioned.

A is the upper and B the lower roller, to which the canvas .O isconnected and wound on and off for moving it past the opening D in thecase. These rollers are mountedin bearings E, arranged for sliding toand' from the middle roller, F, y and l the said boxes have springsG,for pressing them against the said bearings, and the canvas is woundfrom the side of the said middle roller and in front of middle roller.The latter is mounted in fixed JULIUS I. PFAU, OF LANSINGBURG, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-STATION INDICATOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 103,237, dated May 17,1870.

rear sides of the upper and lower rollers over the front of the middleone, passing between the latterand the other two, and so that a movementof the middle one Will impart motion to the others, winding the canvasoff from one and onto the others, giving the same surface speed to eachthat it has, no matter how the size may vary, thereby always keeping thecanvas underthe same tension, land preventing any variation in therelation of the names on the canvas to the opening through which theyare to be observed.

The middle roller has a ratchet-disk, H, on each end, the notches ofwhich are the required distance apart to cause the necessary movement ofthe canvas by the Y movement of the disks the distance of one notch; andeach disk has a pawl, I, jointed at the rear end to a radial arm, K,journaled loosely on the axis of the roller and connected to the curvedarm K'. The said pawls are connected at the other end by links L to thepawl-levers M, which are actuated by the pull rods or cords N. The endof the curved arm K has a retractingspring, O, attached by. a stud, l?,against which the pawl-lever M bears when retracted by its spring Q, sothat both springs act to retract the pawl.

It will be seen that the pawls I are thrown up by the action of thelinks L `and pawl-levers at each return movement, so as to free thewheels H and allow them to be moved backward, if required.

The pawl-and-ratchet mechanisms for each end are reversed in relation toeach other, so that one will move the canvas one way and the other theother way.

Havingthus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- The adjustable spring-pressed rollers A B, combined witha middle actuating-roller, F, the three rollers being relativelyarranged and operated in an indicating apparatus, so as to dispense withall springs or additional rolls.

J ULIUS l?. PFAU.

Witnesses:

M. L. FANCHER, GnH. LEMPE.

